The season's longest-distance aces

Round 11 of the 7DAYS EuroCup saw several teams sitting in the middle of the standings in both groups score important victories. The closest of them was Joventut Badalona's 83-82 win over Frutti Extra Bursaspor in Group A. The victors got a timely shooting performance from Kyle Guy, who scored 25 points in only 28 minutes of action while going 5-for-9 from beyond the arc. Making several heavily contested shots and multiple attempts on the move, Guy ultimately did much of his damage from a full step beyond the arc. The longer range on his jumper was critical to his team's ability to seize control of the game in the second half.

That type of long-range marksmanship is nothing new for Guy. He's one of just a handful of players whose average distance in making three-pointers sits near or above 7.5 meters. The table above lists the league-leaders in three-point distance among players with over 20 three-point makes this season. Considering the three-point line is 6.75 meters everywhere but the corners, these players are all knocking down some very deep shots. Even among the league's deepest shooters, this list has two obvious outliers: Yogi Ferrell and Thomas Klepeisz.

Ferrell's pull-up jumper has been one of the most valuable offensive weapons in the EuroCup this season, but he has not been shy about firing up deep shots off the catch from kick-out passes in the rare moments he's operating off the ball. His range and accuracy are among the reasons he now leads the EuroCup in total points.

Klepeisz is an interesting case. He not only makes shots at an exceptional level running off screens, but is also able to change his mechanics completely and make shots from the corners without dipping the ball at all after catching it. That's a truly rare skill across the elite level of the sport, but especially at the level of accuracy he has shown this season.

This group is an interesting mix of on-ball and off-ball threats. A.J. Slaughter, Derek Needham, Yago Dos Santos and Tony Taylor all rank among the most prolific pull-up shooters in the league this season. Others like Guy and Robin Christen do much of their damage off the catch, whether by running off screens or spotting up on the wings.

James Palmer warrants mention as the player with the most distinct blend of deep shots as the swingman does not hang his hat on any one thing as a shot-maker, making him a consistent headache for opposing defenders and part of the reason Bourg sits atop Group A.

Its notable that there are no big men in this top 10. Conor Morgan of WKS Slask Wroclaw is the first power forward in these rankings, falling just outside of the list above. Very few centers have made 10 three-point attempts this season and even those shooters who see some action at the center spot tend to attempt far shorter threes than their smaller counterparts.

Deep shots are not for everyone and do not necessarily define the value of a shooter, but players who can make shots accurately from well beyond the three-point line add a unique degree of spacing for their teams and often force adjustments from opposing defenses.